


De Cane Et Frusto Carnis [A Dog With A Bone]

by dianekepler, Raiven_Raine



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Excessive Use of Military Jargon, Female Ejaculation, Femslash, Hazing, Het, Masturbation, Military Kink, Multi, Open Relationships, Promiscuity, Semi-Public Sex, Slash, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-16 13:57:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8105041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianekepler/pseuds/dianekepler, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raiven_Raine/pseuds/Raiven_Raine
Summary: This isn't Going Through The Ranks. This isn't Cohesion. This is an AU in which Sole Survivor Reese Logan and Knight Gavin Kidd meet and perform the crazy amount of bumping and grinding one would expect from such a pairing. But there is a bone of contention -- a certain paladin of note.





	1. Game On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The intro to our Dog With A Playlist playlist is [Sebastian Pérez's remix of Deep Dish's rework of He's A Dream from the movie Flashdance](https://soundcloud.com/u2fans-1/flashdance-deep-dish). Play before, during, and/or after to enhance your reading experience.

“There’s a new recruit.” Knight Baxter said as he dealt cards around their table in the belly of the whale. 

Nikolav took his, as well as a bottle of vodka, and balanced his chair on two legs. “Does he drink?”

“Dunno much about her," Bax corrected, "but she’s an outsider. Came from right here in the fuckin’ CW.”

Ortiz dropped some caps in the center of the table and spoke casually, “She suck dick?” 

“Dunno, Tease, why don’t you ask her?” Bax tossed his cards on the table and sat back.

“Don’t you kids ever think about anything else?” Gavin feigned seriousness and they all stared.

“Really, Gav?” Bentley raised an eyebrow.

“What?” He attempted to hide a grin.

“For fuck’s sake, we all know you’ll be the first one to try and get your dick wet.” Baxter hit Ortiz with the back of his hand, “You or this fucking slut.”

Tease smirked in the breakroom's red-orange glow, “Bet I can before you do.”

“You boys must take me for some kind of man-whore or something…” Gavin crossed his arms and leaned away from them. “But if I were a betting man… I wouldn’t put caps on Tease.”

Niko dropped his chair down. “Think he just called your bluff.” He scooted the vodka over to Ortiz as the group laughed. 

"Thought you'd be first to tell us, Gav," Bax slid a few more caps to the middle and pointed with his chin. "I heard Danse sponsored her."

There was a pause as that sank in. 

"Maybe it was classified." Gav said as he matched the new bet. 

Ortiz threw his cards down. "Classified as your nutsack."

"Or your granny's." Niko tossed back. "You still in?"

"Fuck no." 

"Benny?"

She didn't need to look at her cards. "Bax deals me shit every time."

Niko grunted. "I'm out too."

"Just you and me, G," Baxter said. He upped the bet again. Casual. "Heard Maxson made her a knight."

Benny made a dismissive noise. She looked around for a bottle and took a swig. "Don't even try to shit us like that." 

"Teagan issued her tags." Bax watched to see what Gavin would do. "I was right next to the cage when he gave them to a runner."

"Guess that answers your question, Tease," Niko put in. "She made knight after, what, two seconds?"

Knowing laughs went around. 

Gavin stretched and had a look at the terminal before turning back around. "Well, if you give it half an hour, you can ask."

"What she's gonna just walk in?"

"Maybe."

"You're bluffing again," Bax said and threw down. "Tens over sevens. Eat it."

"Guess you win," Gav shrugged and scattered his junk cards on the table. But before another five hands were done there was the new face with a smooth walk and a uniform so clean it made more than one of them want to spill something on it. 

“Brothers and sister," she said. It was calm, like she'd done it before. 

The group eyed the new recruit. Ortiz opened his mouth but Bentley cut him off before he could let fly whatever asinine shit was in there. “Welcome to the Rat’s Nest, newbie.” She stood and moved to pull another chair over. “That there’s Ortiz, Baxter, Kidd--” 

“Gavin.” He immediately corrected.

“... Gavin, and Nikolav. I’m Bentley.”

“Logan," she nodded and sat down. "What's the game?"

"Commonwealth stud, aces high, brothers and sisters wild." 

"Queens and jacks," the interloper asked without asking.

"You got it." Niko handed over a bottle then motioned to her uniform, “Bit overdressed, aren’t you?”

She eyed their assortment of PT gear and skivvies. "So you're not playing strip?"

Ortiz looked her up and down with a smile, “If you wanna take it off, I won’t stop you.”

“Jeezus, Tease! It hasn’t even been five fucking minutes.” Bentley anted up. “Don’t mind them… There’s a liberty ban right now so the Pryd is a raging river of cocks.” 

“And you love it.” Gavin winked at Benny, who ignored him, as he shuffled the cards. He didn’t ask before dealing Reese in.

Baxter counted out some caps of his own and pushed them across the table. “I’ll spot you.” His smile was friendly, but he could have been hustling. Or drunk. 

There were three bottles on the table, all of which were more than half empty. Gav picked one up as he folded his cards and leaned back in his seat, cocking his head at the new girl. A much better question than ‘does she drink’ would have been ‘is she hot’... Because she was. Ridiculously hot. She had a cute smile and her brown eyes took everything in with a look of curiosity. He suddenly wanted to know far the curiosity went. What he'd learned from Danse didn't extend to whether she was down for anything. Gavin’s idea of vital intel missed Danse’s by a lot. 

Baxter took a drink then pointed the mouth of the brown bottle toward Reese, “So, what brings you to the good ship Cockstorm?” He flashed an instigating grin at Benny. 

Tease snorted and spread his arms, “Same thing that brings 'em all…” He paused for a moment to revel in the rolling eyes and head-shakes then tapped his hands on his bare chest, “The uniforms.” 

“Your 'uniform' looks like a bag of smashed assholes, _chico_.” Bentley flashed a smirk before raising a bottle to her lips.

“You know you lyin'…” Ortiz pointed at her, “But it would look better on you.” He licked his lips for a second as he watched her drink. He was bold, but harmless. A big talker, especially when he was buzzed. He turned his attention to Logan with a little half grin, “I could outfit you too.”

“Don’t think you have my size, _chico_.” Reese let her gaze flick to his lap for a second then she smiled sweetly. “But thanks for the offer.”

The boys let out some jeers and Benny laughed openly. 

“You’ll fit in,” she clinked the bottom of her bottle against the one Reese held. The bets went around and Gav won. Niko dealt the next hand.

“Speaking of fitting in…” he balanced his chair again and tilted his head a little, “got your hands in any cookie jars?”

Gavin leaned his elbows on the table, more interested now. 

Benny glanced sideways at him. “You already have the whole damn bakery, Kidd.”

He gave a little shrug, “I like cookies.” He glanced at Bentley with an unreadable expression, “Besides, Danse isn’t a bakery, he’s more like a box of Fancy Lad’s.”

Baxter snorted amusement, “You call him that in private?”

Niko joined in. “Damn, I sure hope so! Fancy Danse ....”

Even Benny snickered at that, although Logan raised an eyebrow like something just clicked. "So you're the one.” 

"His rep precedes him." Benny stared idly at her cards

"Figured they don't care about us grunts, but a knight and a paladin?" Reese clucked her tongue.

"Gav is special," Baxter made his voice sickly sweet. "Which reminds me, how'd you jump rank so quick?"

"Recon squad Artemis." Logan bent her cards away from the table without lifting them. 

"That was you? Damn." Tease seemed impressed. "But back to Nico's question." 

“Ah. Well, I had a cookie. He was a lying, cheating asshole." She met Ortiz's gaze full on, her tone light. "And now he's dead. Too bad.”

“So your status is D2F.” Gav's eyes twinkled.

“Good to go.” Reese winked and took a drink.

This time it was Bax who threw his cards down. "I swear, any other fucker would get punched in the face."

"That's probably happened," Reese glanced at Knight Kidd. He got away with shit because he was all blue eyes and chiseled jaw. She could see why even someone as controlled as their paladin might break the rules. 

Heavy boots rang along the catwalk and a stern Danse appeared beside their table. Speak of the devil. Or think of him.

“Thirty before lights-out.”

“Yes, sir,” they all said more or less at once.

“Aw, mom,” Reese grinned up at the paladin.

Danse scowled and crossed his arms, "No exceptions. You need to be in bed, in thirty."

Gav grinned impishly, “Well, if you say so…. But I don’t think we’d all fit....”

Danse sighed, “In your _own_ racks.” He looked pointedly at Ortiz, “And no midnight recon. We have just a few days to pull this unit together before we're back in the field." 

Reese stood up "Permission to ask about armor mods?" 

"For a few minutes. The rest of you, clean up." 

Niko started gathering the cards. “Fancy Danse is just no fun.”

But Benny's eyes were on the pair walking away. She noticed how they fell into step and how Reese gazed steadily at the paladin, even though he was still looking ahead. On a tank full of fun, mileage varied.


	2. Out of Uniform

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once the action gets going, play [Rub](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vS1ued72L0) by Peaches, although you may wind up being ded of the hotness.

Coming out of the vault had made it clear to Reese that two hundred years of cryostat were hell on conditioning. Trekking with a rifle and pack had helped some and workouts at Cambridge had taken things up a notch. It reminded her of sitting down for coffee with an old friend. Why hello there, cardio. 

But the next afternoon, on the airport's baking tarmac, It occurred to Reese that Danse might have been going easy on her back at the police station -- because Danse leading PT was absolute hell. 

Crunches, burpees, mountain climbers, all that was just a warmup. Five squads of them ran the obstacle course, with the paladin on their asses like some ghoul with an ancient grudge. Danse even tackled whoever seemed to be sandbagging, leaving them to pick out the grit and catch up, because fuck only knew what he’d add on if he lapped anybody. That, to Reese's horror, turned out to be more jogging. After most of the company went off for target practice, four of them plus Danse ran over, through and around the hulks of prewar fusion liners -- with rifles, because outside the perimeter everything was suspect. She counted not throwing up as a victory.

On top of that the showers were trickly, conditioning took forever with just olive oil, and then her uniform had gone fuck-if-she-knew-where. It wasn’t in any of the cubbies near the showers, or behind any of the reeking laundry crates where they'd thrown all their sweated-through gear. Commandeering a broom handle showed it wasn't in the crates either. The airy locker room was deserted by the time she’d checked everything, the big sliding door still open to let all the moisture escape. 

“Hey Logan. Missing something?”

Three pairs of boots. Nico, Bax, and Ortiz, who’d been one of the final four. They were suited up and grinning. Just a little friendly hazing, nothing personal. 

“Ever been to the forecastle?” Tease’s lips were nearly vertical he was smirking so hard. He pointed with his chin. Sure enough, bannering from the goddamn prow of the ship was a new orange flag. 

But Logan just cocked her hips. “Guess you boys got your wish.” 

Bax spoke for them. “How’s that?”

Reese had a rifle, a towel, and boots. She laced the last two, hefted the first and laid it on her shoulder with the second as padding. Her best runway walk was for the three of them and she did it slow: eyes front, swing of the hips. bit of a bounce to the maracas. She got up in their personal space. Did a three-sixty. 

“You're seeing it. So take a nice long look, because that's all you'll ever get.” 

She pushed through them, even shouldering Nico out of the way, and headed off towards the storage depot. It amused her to hear tinny squawks from the knights on watch near the entrance. 

“Hey!” 

“What the-“ 

But her tags were front and center. No one challenged Reese as she strode through the cooler evening breeze. 

There was still a line for vertibirds by the time she got to the roof. Applause and a few whistles broke out. Danse went redder than most of those assembled had ever seen. 

"You're out of uniform." 

"Uh, yeah," someone said and a few soldiers lost it before straightening up under Danse's glare. Reese kept her eyes big and doe-like as she pointed at the ship's bow. 

There wasn't much Danse could do except sigh and say “Knight Bentley, show Knight Logan to logistics. See what they have in the crates.”

“Yes, sir.” 

Benny offered her arm and, to the delight of those assembled, their new sister took it. 

"All right, settle down." Any other CO would have been red-faced and screaming, but Uncle Danse was just a sterner shade of resigned. Reese wondered if that was why he'd been assigned the Rat's Nest to make up for losses from Gladius. Hardcore wouldn't work with them. 

Benny gave her comrade-at-arms a sidelong glance and a smile. “Found the welcoming committee, huh?” 

“More like they found me. But you’re amazing -- how’d you guess?” 

That made Benny laugh. “We all get it in different ways.”

“Don’t think this counts me out of card night," the new recruit told her. "They won’t keep my fucking caps.”

“You’re badass, _chica_.” 

Reese glanced over her shoulder -- the one on Benny's side. “And yet yours is so good.”

KS Gavil was not pleased when the women showed up. He looked through his terminal, listed numbers on a scrap of paper and handed Benny a pry bar. “Go fishing. Bring one uniform back here and I’ll log it. If anything else is missing or disturbed, you two are going to wish you’d never seen this place.” 

“Sir.” Logan realized it was fun saluting with no clothes on. People didn’t know where to look. 

Benny had to pop the top off a couple crates before they found the ladies section. Reese mentioned, by way of apology: “Sorry I’m making you miss chow."

Knight Victoria Bentley -- Reese had checked -- made a sound like a Nuka popping open. “With the ass-towels they serve us? We’ll shoot something better." 

"Oh yeah?"

"Ton of iguanas around. Change your rifle setting and you don’t even need to build a fire.”

“Dinner too. I’m starting to feel like I owe you something.”

“ _De nada_ ,” She held up a uniform. “How about this one?”

It was cold up against Logan, hardening her nipples. “Too big on top. Not everybody’s built like you, _hermana_.” 

Vicki broke eye contact, just like when Reese had made the comment about her ass. But she didn’t move away or say anything. 

“You know, I _could_ owe you. If you wanted me to.”

That got Benny looking. It was dark in their corner of the warehouse, but it wasn’t like either of them needed a klieg light to see the signs. 

Knight Bentley didn't waste time. One pounce and Reese got lost in full lips and a tongue that made her suck in a breath, wondering if strength meant endurance. That was before Benny got rid of some pins and shook out her glossy black mane, still damp and somehow smelling like flowers despite that awful soap. Logan breathed it in and sighed. Was there a black market in bath products?

Reese got Benny's zipper down while the latter was already there, tweaking Reese's nipples and rolling them in her hands. Vicki had wider peaks with big, dark areolas that pebbled when Logan licked and then blew on them. So she latched on. Couldn’t help it, Vicki was such a dish. Benny cooed like it’d been forever since someone had done that, although with the talk last night, that couldn’t be true. 

Pushing Benny’s gorgeous warm mounds together, Reese lick-sucked either one and then moved up for a kiss when she wasn’t expecting it. Benny’s thigh was between her legs so she, too, could get some. Thoughtful. 

“Someone request ground support? Got a Fat Man locked and loaded...”

The intruder was backlit and leaning casually against a crate. 

Benny shaded her eyes and sighed. “Fuck off, Kidd.” 

“I turn my back for a minute. One bite-sized minute and you two run off like -- I don’t know -- like you’re trying to avoid me or something.” He clutched comically at his heart. 

It was too funny not to at least choke back a laugh, though under Reese's hands, Benny felt like she was going to go mirelurk queen in the next four seconds. A change of tactics was in order, so Reese took her voice down to something sultry. 

“You know, it sucks not to get what you want.”

Gavin tipped his chin up with a hint of question, though his grin never faltered.

“Like if you had to stand here and just stare at these two fine females getting off, not talking, not even taking it out." Logan paused for effect. "That would bite some rad-bunnies for sure."

“It'd be tragic.” He came closer, watching intently. A dog waiting for a scrap to fall his way.

Benny’s diaphragm jumped. The sound that came out was in same family as a giggle, but a lot more grown-up. 

“Oh, you like that?” Reese said to Benny, lilting and low. 

Gav definitely liked it. A twitch in his pants made him bite his lip. 

Vicki kissed the answer into Logan’s mouth hungrily, like she was either paying Gav back for something, or into being watched, or even just because they were about to pop the mercury by getting it on. Same outcome -- that being Benny's hand skimming over a hip and going on to discover Reese was crazy wet for her. She didn't waste time on anything besides parting Reese and sliding in so deep she hit the rough spot on her inner front wall right away. It made the new knight suck in a breath. The Kidd in the background, too. 

He stepped in for a better view, grinning as he squeezed the very apparent bulge in his olive drab. He clenched his teeth and worked really hard on not stepping any closer. He saw Reese arch her back and grind against Benny’s hand… why didn't they make these pants with more room? 

“Want to taste you.” Vicki said, turning Reese towards the crates. 

“Nuh-uh. On your back, soldier.” 

Benny looked confused until Logan kissed her on the nose and ran her hands down the back of her uniform. “Don’t want any splinters.” A wink. “You can get me next time.”

Gav's brain stalled at the altitude of _fuh._

“Okay,” Benny said, soft and pink-cheeked as Reese opened those handy snaps at the crotch of her uniform. 

Vicki's bush came to light, her inner lips just peeking through plump outer ones. Logan kissed and slow-licked those first. Pure girly goodness that made Reese suck as much as she could into her mouth before she pointed her tongue and thrust. Benny moaned. Pressed knuckles into her face to keep it down, because that was they needed, the knight sergeant charging back there to break things up. 

As Vicki bloomed and blushed darker under Reese's tongue, she rocked her hips more, hands sliding up to knead and tweak at herself. Bit of arched back. Dark fucking eyes that peered at the girl between her legs -- so fun to watch swirling circles around her clit and sucking gently. Gavin noticed Reese was keeping her arms around Benny's thighs, bringing the knight off with her mouth only. But their sounds were the worst. A soft moan, a little smack of the lips. Gav had to stop touching himself so he wouldn't make a mess. 

That was when Reese stuck her ass out some more. Like she knew.

It didn't take long. Seemed like the liberty ban had been rough on Benny, too. Gav watched her silently dent her own thighs with hard fingers as she lost it. He watched Reese kiss that pinkness a couple more times. Benny jerked and put out a hand out to stop Reese, but of course she couldn't help giving her one more lick. Gavin felt like with a bed and a bit more time they'd've tried for dessert. And he gladly would've helped them eat it.

Bentley stroked the halo of Reese's hair, the rim of her ear. It didn't take her long to sit up and pull Reese into her lap like the new knight had turned cowgirl and Vicki was the soft and silky mare. Then one hand. That was all she needed to circle and plunge into Reese. The other went between her shoulder blades, while she murmured dirty words against bare breasts. 

"So gonna make you lose it," was all Gav heard.

He saw Reese shiver. She wound Benny's hair in her fingers and gave in to the tingling rush along her scalp as Vicki pumped with two middle fingers, the other two gripping hard. Vicki leaned in to suckle and mouth and peck nipples that strained towards her like she was saving them from all the inattention in their cold, cruel world. Benny's eyes flicked up and she smiled. Pulled back. Painted long stripes and then flickered her tongue at the very tips for the sheer fun of it but also because she knew Gav was watching. 

The whole time, Benny's fingers had been sending Reese higher. But then she curled them, really dug in, and got the hiss and whine that was the other knight's plea to keep going. Benny did so with purpose. Gav had seen her charge into battle like that -- a full frontal against raiders -- except now it was an offensive against … people not coming? He wasn't sure. It was fucking hot, though. He groaned quietly and cursed under his breath with every whimper Bentley dragged out of her charge. Gav wasn’t sure how much longer he could idly stand by and watch. He liked games, but his patience wasn’t infinite and his cock was aching. His imagination ran wild with thoughts of jumping in, tasting, fucking... somehow not getting clocked….

Logan could somehow still talk. "Vick, if you … I'll make a total mess of this place, I swear."

"You can do that?" The two women locked eyes. 

" _Yeah_." 

"Wait, do what?" Gav said from the back. 

Benny spread her legs wider and gave Reese a wicked smile. "Let's give him a real show."

Reese was so stuffed full of pressure and the feeling of needing to shift, to get away, even though she didn't want to. Vicki's strong fingers never stopped probing, building up that need, while Reese's clit ached -- so stiff, but left out of the party for now, except for the much bigger part of that organ that was inside of her. It was all Reese could do to curl into Benny, press cheek to head. Her world was darkening. Then, it was whiting out as that deepest feeling of release steamrolled out of her cunt and into the rest of her body. A stuttered vowel broke from her, so high and sweet that Gav seized himself and uttered a matching grunt. Then she came. In clear, fluid spurts that darkened the crate and the floor underneath them. 

Nearby, Gavin was swearing up a storm. 

“Fucking hell…” It was all he could do to take his hand out of his pants as his dick gave a jerk of protest. 

He scowled at Benny, who had a big case of 'so there' going on, as Reese drowsed against her shoulder. She smiled at Gav. "You could've just walked away."

“Oh you're just plain damn evil.” Gav's lips curled up to state he could be just as evil…. and liked dirty games. He dared to step in and slide a hand over the top of Reese’s shoulder, thumb running firmly up the nape of her neck as he pressed himself up against her back. 

Benny leaned an elbow on Reese’s shoulder and stuck her middle finger out at him. 

Gavin took her wrist and guided that same finger into his mouth. He made a quiet sound as he sucked the sweet juice off. "Just so you know, Logan, I'm getting you back for this."

"Mmmggh," she muttered, still insensible. 

“Well, you’d have to ask real damn nice…” Benny cocked her head in a way that looked tender as she regarded the woman on her lap, “Besides, I think she'd rather do your boyfriend.”

Gav let out a little snort, “Of course she would.” He stepped back and leaned over so he could brush her ear with his lips.  
“Aww, sucks not getting what you want... “ 

Reese's head fell backwards, almost trustingly, somehow. She bit her lip. His erection jumped and Gav knew he had to push just a little more. 

“You like Danse? You want him to fuck you?” He nipped her neck, his voice deep and quiet. “He has a big cock… He’d wreck you.” 

The twinge, as Gavin said that, flashed from Reese's clit through what felt like the top of her skull. It was more than imagining what the paladin would feel like. It was hearing so from someone who knew. 

"Not easy to wreck," she mumbled, sounding half asleep. 

"Well, at least your snark still works." Benny tweaked Reese's nose. "But nobody's wrecking anything 'til your hours are up. Remember what Cade keeps drilling into us. 'Can't date -"

"'Til after forty-eight." Gavin confirmed. "Though maybe I wouldn't want to share Danse."

"Trust me," Benny said as she stroked Logan's unsmoothable hair. "He does. Hey, Kidd, back up for a minute."

Standing took about eighty seven percent of Reese's concentration until Benny one-eightied then and sat her back down to start unlacing her boots.

"You want me more naked?"

Benny frowned at her. "I need to get these off before you get one of those on. _Cuchura_ , you always get this zoned?" 

"I like zoned," Gav asserted. "Zoned is good."

Reese flapped a hand at the evidence of their encounter. "Just when ..."

Gavin stuck his hands in his pockets. One in particular. "Need to see if I can zone you out then."

The potential queen mirelurk had gone full-on mother hen. She chambered one round of side-eye and fired it at their voyeur. "Alright, quit beating off and go get a mop or something, damn. "

Which was how Logan started looking forward to what Knight Kidd -- and yes, he was a big one -- was going to dream up.


	3. Debriefing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The name of the game is [Tag, You're It.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRRUokp6EGM>)

Gav couldn’t find Danse… and he _really _needed to find him. Why was that man always doing goddamned paladin stuff whenever Gavin was driven crazy with the need to fuck him? He peeled his shirt off, kicked his boots to the middle of the room, then sat down on Danse’s bed and dropped back. He thought about grabbing a soldier for some storage room duty, but that wasn’t exactly what he wanted at the moment. Teaching Logan about SRD had been his first plan, but Benny had beaten him to the punch. Kudos, sister. He smiled again and closed his eyes as he lifted his ass enough to push his pants down to his thighs. Damn, he’d like to put her on her knees for that. Both of them. It was kind of his fault for staying, but who in their right mind would walk out on _that_ show? __

"Damn, Benny," he smiled and spoke quietly at the ceiling. “You suck.”

She did suck. So very well. Reese was also proving to be at least kind of interested, and on the playground of activities Gav enjoyed, chase was a old favorite. The new girl might end up being just as good. 

Running his wrist lightly along his throbbing cock a few times, Gav made a sound as he vividly recalled Reese with her ass in the air as she drove Bentley crazy. He could still smell it, still remember the taste on his lips. 

He knew how Benny felt as she rolled her hips in his lap. Knew what she tasted like and what she sounded like when she tried desperately to stifle sounds of pleasure. She had been one of his favorite distractions at one time. What would Reese feel like as she squirmed under him? He moved his hand slowly as he imagined it, flashing between the past and imagined future. Damn those girls for making him insane. He grunted quietly and his muscles tightened as he fucked his hand _\--fucked Reese._ Gavin bit his lip and tilted his head back as he erupted, hot and thick, over his abdomen. 

Gav flinched as the door opened, then relaxed when he saw it was Danse. He made a little show of wiping himself off with a nearby towel while rolling his eyes. “Oh, _now_ you show up.” 

The paladin's cheeks reddened as he looked the knight over. 

Gav loved to see the man blush. "What kept you?"

“Remember when you were learning power armor?” Danse toed Gav's discarded footwear under the bed as he walked across the room.

“Uh-huh..” Gavin threw the towel in a lazy arc so it landed near but not in the steel wastebasket Danse was using as a hamper. “Newbie-sitting. I get it.” He squirmed enough to pull his pants up, but left them undone as he sat up to pat the space next to him with a smile. 

Danse sat and started to undress methodically. First the right boot, then the left. Socks removed with care and folded once, even though they were going right into the basket. Shirt peeled off and deposited with a strange level of care. The man had the same damn routines every day. Gavin liked to mess them up as often as possible. The times when he could get Danse so distracted he didn't care where things ended up were best. The knight's greatest triumph was the time Danse had misplaced his skivvies for over a week. 

“Speaking of the new boot…” Gav moved behind Danse and started rubbing his shoulders, “how is she?”

The paladin started to relax into the massage. “Logan's acclimating well.” He leaned his head forward. "And don't call her that." 

Except she is. Newbie. Noob. Boot. Cornflake. And who the hell did she suck off to cheesedick her way to knight so fast? Couldn’t have been Danse; Gav had been sucking his dick for a while now and he was still a knight. He also knew field promotions -- from Maxson, no less -- didn't grow on trees. There had to be more to her step up than just Artemis. 

“You got to know her at Cambridge?” Gav prodded a little. 

“We had some time to talk.”

Gavin felt an unfamiliar stab of something. Jealousy? Couldn’t be. He dismissed it and placed his chin on the paladin’s shoulder as his hands moved to work on his lower back. No matter what kinds of mods the scribes invented, power armor was always hard on it. 

“That all you did?” He grinned as Danse melted under his touch. 

“Anything else would be inappropriate.”

“Mm,” Gavin nipped at him and slid his arms under Danse’s to pull him closer by the chest. “Like us?”

“We,” Danse closed his eyes, “are an exception, not an example.”

“Exceptional exception,” Gav mumbled against his neck between pressing kisses against warm skin. 

"Besides, _this,”_ The paladin ran his hands over Gavin’s and interlaced their fingers, “began when we were both still knights.”

“Oh, of course,” he spread his knees wider so there was more skin-to-skin, “couldn't have any ranky-panky.”

“Gavin,” Danse warned.

“Danse,” Gav drawled. 

His hands tightened around Gavin’s, holding them in place against the outer ends of his collarbones. “I suppose you’re already thinking about sleeping with her.” 

Even with his eyes closed Gav could tell the not-question had almost nothing to do with fucking the new girl. “I have no intention of _sleeping_ with her.” 

Danse sighed under Gavin's hands. 

“Pretty sure we’ve gone over this.” Gav wasn't quite at the eye-rolling stage, but almost. 

“I know, Gavin.” A pause. “I know.”

It was a sticking point. Gavin liked to play and Danse… was just Danse. Even before the promotion, back when Gav had been chasing him all over the Citadel, Danse hadn't been involved with anyone else. Danse had a thing about love and sex being the same that Gavin just didn’t understand. 

“If you don’t want me to…” Gav tilted his head, turning the statement to a question. 

“It’s fine.” 

This time a little sigh did escape. Gavin wasn’t oblivious, but he'd been honest with Danse from the start. And was it so bad this way? Danse needed someone in his life and just because Gav liked to screw around didn’t mean his feelings were any less sincere. 

The knight leaned back and hooked his feet behind the other man's legs to urge them up off the floor. “Good. Because, from what I see, our new recruit likes herself some tag.” 

Danse allowed himself to be turned and pulled down, though he didn’t fully drop his weight. 

“You’re incorrigible.” 

“Affirmative.”

“Logan doesn’t need--” Pause. Correction. “She's not sure of what she wants.” 

“I'm pretty sure she wants a good time.” Gavin put his feet on the backs of Danse’s thighs, pulled him close and ground against that big package. He hadn't been exaggerating at the airport. “Don't we all?”

“Some people want more out of life.”

And it was Gavin’s turn to be done with the topic; D-flat was a chord that kind of grated on the ear. “Know what I want?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to let me have it or make me beg?” Gav rustled up his signature playful smile. 

“You don’t beg," Danse said that beautiful baritone. 

“True,” Gavin kissed him then spoke quietly against his lips, “but if you want me on my knees…” The stirring Gav felt from Danse pressed between his legs encouraged him.

Danse argued quietly between kisses, “do you ever... think about... anything else?” 

“Sometimes…” Gavin ran his hands over scars and muscles. He slid fingers under Danse's waistband to either side of his tailbone. The pads of his index fingers went right on top of that amazing pair of dimples he had. “But you make it really hard with that ass of yours.” 

Danse mouthed Gavin’s lips. "At least I've got something to recommend me."

Rolling them both over, Gav straddled him with his hands planted firmly on Danse’s chest. He bit his lip as he ran his eyes over the man under him. 

“You've got lots of things." 

“Such as?” Danse slid his hands up Gav’s thighs and smiled.

“How you taste,” He slowly worked the man’s fly open. Gavin moved back a little onto his thighs and tugged material down a little to expose Danse’s arousal. He curled fingers around that expanse of velvet and grinned.

Danse inhaled quietly and closed his eyes. 

“Look at me.” 

His grip on the knight’s thighs tightened as intense brown eyes met Gav's own. Those looks whenever Gav demanded things were such a trip. His expressions was so needy, it was hard to stay focused.

Gavin bit his lip as he stood back next to the bed and pulled the paladin's fatigues along. “Fuck I’ve missed you.” 

Danse wriggled a little to help shed what clothing remained. “I wasn’t gone all that long…” A deep grunt followed when Gav knelt down and hooked his arms under the man’s knees to pull his ass to the edge of the bed.

“Too long.” He muttered against that substantial cock. 

He pressed his tongue to the tip firmly and slid down, pulling him into his mouth. Gavin teased a little until the paladin placed a hand gently against the back of his head. Gavin liked it that way. It gave some illusion of control when Gav was still completely in the driver’s seat where his partner’s climax was concerned. So he teased a little more before taking him deep with some difficulty, using one hand to cup and stroke his balls. He also enjoyed the feeling of that, too. Tightening beneath his fingertips. Pulling upwards. Gavin would take that moment to slow what he was doing and back off for a moment, keeping his lover on the edge until he’d be eagerly begging him for release. That was the thing about Danse. Since he didn't play, all those months in the field made him _ready._

With one hand still slowly working the man’s cock, Gav placed a spit-slickened thumb against Danse's opening and he raised his feet up and plant them on Gavin’s shoulders. He was uncharacteristically tight. 

“Damn…” Gav shook his head and smiled up at the paladin. "Really has been a while."

Danse let out a moan and reached into the nightstand where he fumbled for the expected offering. 

Gavin took the bottle and grinned wolfishly, “oh, you want something?”

The answer was a louder moan and an eager nod. 

He spread some oil on his fingers and slid them along the cleft of Danse’s ass, pausing to press his middle finger inside. “That what you want?”

“Nnnhh…” Danse writhed against his hand. “Mm..more.”

Gav added a second finger, twisted inside and curled upward. The man on his back bit his knuckles to keep from making too much noise, which only worked to make Gavin keep probing until Danse clutched at the bed and made strangled sounds of pleasure. And, fuck, that was hot. The paladin’s voice on its own was always enough to make Gav squirm, but hearing those throaty groans and grunts was nearly too much.

Gavin wriggled out of his own pants and had Danse scoot back so he could kneel on the bed between his lover's thighs. “Ready for more?” He paused with the head of his cock just teasing, one slick hand holding himself back.

Danse pushed against him and let out a deep frustrated whine, “yes…”

“Specifics.” 

“Nnh.” Danse lifted his head from the edge of the bed and growled, “fuck me!”

And that’s what Gavin lived to hear. Paladin fucking Danse losing that legendary composure was the best kind of rush. 

He pushed inside slowly at first, until Danse hiked his knees up more and ground eager hips against him. 

“Hard," came the desperate order.

A seemingly well-kept secret about being in charge: Danse really was completely in control. Gav knew what the paladin wanted, what he liked, and just how he liked it. He just loved to hear him say it. A benefit, he supposed, to remaining with one partner; Gav knew exactly how to please him. But discovering all those hidden switches with a new partner was half the fun and Gavin wasn’t sure which he liked more. 

Gavin clutched Danse's hips as he buried himself deep. “Fuck… Danse...” He had to close his eyes for a moment; The shapes of the broader man's jawline and sculpted shoulders as he hung his head off the edge of the bed were almost overwhelming. 

Danse was squeezing himself in time with knight’s tempo. Hard. Rough. The way both of them liked it most times. 

The bed protested the weight of their actions as Gav rocked him. It let out moans right along with the two men. Gavin never cared. Danse may have, but not in that moment. He felt the paladin’s muscles tightening under and around him. 

“Cum for me, Danse.” Gavin grunted quietly between clenched teeth. 

He whimpered and writhed under the knight, gripping the bedding in one white-knuckled fist as he worked his other hand over his slick cock. 

“You look so fucking hot.” Gavin said, spurring them on with aggressive thrusts.

Danse moaned, then mouthed incoherent words as his body tightened and spasmed, clenching around Gav in waves.

“Oh, fuck…” Gavin leaned his head back and dug his nails into the paladin’s hips as his own release overtook him. 

He ran his hands over the sweat cooling Danse's chest and smiled down at him as the man started to relax. 

“Looks like you missed me, too.” He raised an eyebrow at the mess of spend along a certain paladin’s abdomen.

He didn’t raise his head from off the edge bed as he faintly laughed.


	4. Hit Or Miss

Gav and Benny strode out to the beach where Niko, Bax and Tease had a fire going. They'd spent the last couple of days working their asses off to make sure the unit functioned and tomorrow was their first op. Danse had scheduled some R&R to further integrate the Cambridge survivors with the rest of his team, so here they were on the far side of the airport, near the water. 

They sat on pieces of driftwood, old tires, and empty crates carried out for the sole purpose of keeping their asses dry. Bax had a kludged-together squeezebox. He brought it out whenever people didn't complain too much, and since there was no drinking or cards tonight, he was welcome to coax a few sounds out of the old thing. They were paying attention, although it didn't stop Tease from hitting Gav in the chest with the back of his hand the minute he sat down. 

“You missed it… Newbie lost her clothes yesterday.” 

“I didn’t miss a thing.” Gavin said as a shit eating grin crept over his face.

“I knew it!” Bax took a hand off his instrument to point. “You dog.” 

Niko laughed, “Why do we keep putting caps down against your cock? You always win.”

“Should start betting on sloppy seconds.” Tease rolled his eyes, but amusement was plastered all over his face.

Benny waited until the fuss died down to play her trump card. “Actually, boys… I won.” 

Like a basket of pups towards a ball, they all turned at once. 

“Bullshit.” Tease cocked his chin at her. 

Bentley made a vee against her mouth with two fingers and stuck her tongue through it lewdly. She laughed and thumbed at Gav. “Ask him, he was there.”

“Bullshit!” Tease said again as he stared wide-eyed at his sister-knight. 

“Mm, she won.” Gav looked thoughtful, “But really, I think we were all winners.” 

Benny punched him in the arm. “You’re still a fuckin’ loser.” 

“Matter of opinion.” Gavin was still smiling.

Benny leaned over and ran a finger along the top of his ear with her voice a lusty drawl. “Tell me, winner, how’d those blue balls feel after?”

The boys laughed. Gavin pushed her hand away and was about to bite back when he spotted Danse and Logan walking up the beach with Rhys and Haylen just a few steps behind. 

“Here comes the fun-killer squad.” Niko sighed as the rest of the team approached, even though Danse had already dealt the worst blow of the night by declaring alcohol off limits. 

But their CO surprised them. Out of a crate he and Logan had been carrying came a round of Nukas that included hard-to-find flavors like orange and grape. They'd all popped the caps off their chosen bottles and pocketed them. Then Danse raised his frosty bottle in a stiff and thus very Danse-like kind of toast. "To a smoothly functioning unit."

"Hear-hear," they all said and clinked whoever they could reach. 

There was a call for music so Bax started in on "Brave Heroes of Dupont West" and pretty soon most of them were singing or humming along. Haylen wanted "Your Eyes Shine So Pretty in Rivet City." Bentley goaded Ortiz into singing "I Miss Your Molerat Pie, Mom" and his tenor voice was so strong and clear they all clapped and whistled. He would have gone on, except Danse interrupted the opening strains of "A Maid and a Million Mirelurks" saying maybe that was enough music for now. 

They broke into smaller conversational groups after that: Benny and Haylen; Danse and Logan; Gav, Niko, and Bax. Ortiz was content to stand and poke at the fire with a long stick. After a while he grinned at the knight across from him. “Hey, Rhys… wanna tell scary stories?”

“You _are_ a scary story,” came the retort.

Thus rebuffed, he started watching a rock-skipping competition between the three guys. Ortiz got more interested when it progressed into hitting said missiles at a derelict shack with a scrap two-by-four. 

Watching Logan and Danse out of the corner of his eye, Gav picked up another rock and tossed it in the air a couple times before hitting it hard through a busted-out window. Newbie was fawning all over Danse again, comparing the mods on his current laser to those on the one he'd given her. Apparently, she liked a big gun. As Gavin watched the two of them interact, he nearly regretted telling Logan about the weapon of mass destruction Danse kept in his pants. 

Eventually Haylen and Benny took her off somewhere, probably to pee or do whatever it was women did. He wondered if he could sneak about the long way around the airport and ‘accidently’ come across them. Gav smiled to himself and hit another rock before handing his board over to Rhys, who had wandered over. 

Tease picked up a good sized-rock and tossed it in the air a couple times then pointed a finger at Rhys with a grin. 

“Are you looking to get busted in the face?” The crew-cut knight twirled the board around in one hand.

Tease laughed. “You’d have to hit it before that happened so I’d say I’m pretty damn safe.”

 _It’s all fun and games until someone gets hit in the face with a rock,_ thought Gavin. He'd probably heard that at some point in his life. 

Ortiz tossed the rock and Rhys smacked it hard; up over Tease’s head, far into the distance. 

Rhys smirked and tapped the end of the board against the ground for another. 

The boys, impressed by Rhys’ hidden talent for making rocks disappear, cheered him on and challenged him to aim for a car behind Ortiz. It wasn’t until the fourth rock that the game ended abruptly with Tease taking it right to the forehead and Danse stomping up to reprimand them for being irresponsible. Most of their games ended that way.

Danse took Tease to the firelight to check him over, Niko and Bax following behind snickering to themselves quietly.

That was about the time Gav noticed the girls were still M.I.A. 

“Where’d Logan go?” Gavin said. 

Rhys shrugged. “Fuck if I know.” He leaned the rotted board against the ground and stomped his boot through it to break it in half for the fire. He paused and eyed Gavin for a moment then frowned. “Are you looking to get her alone?”

“Maybe not tonight.” He flashed a little half smile and stuck his hands in his pockets. 

Rhys' tone, like his expression, was set. “Is there anyone you _haven’t_ been with?”

Gavin feigned thought. "Haven’t been with you yet.” He winked.

Rhys glared. 

“Jealous?” Gav prodded. Rhys had been all love-hate with Gav even before he'd started having diplomatic relations over in Danse-land. Why stop when they were having fun?

The crew-cut knight rolled his eyes. “Dream on.” He picked up another broken piece of wood and then straightened to tap the end of it lightly against Gavin’s chest, “Besides, I remember something about a boyfriend.”

Gavin pulled his hands from his pockets and pushed the board away from his chest. Everyone knew he and Danse weren't exclusive. Rhys was trying to start something. Probably would have been best to walk away. 

Probably.

“Danse and I have an agreement.” Gav narrowed his eyes. It really was none of the other man’s business.

“An agreement,” Rhys shook his head. 

“I give him what he wants.”

“What if he wants monogamy?” 

Gav snorted. "It doesn’t exist anymore.”

“It still exists because it’s who some people are.” Rhys lowered his voice. “Can’t always have your cake and eat it.”

The two men stared at one another for a moment before Rhys took his two half-boards over to the fire, leaving Gav still thinking of a comeback. In the end he just turned and saw red laser beams lance out over the water from not too far away. Well, at least the girls weren't having massive orgies without him. 

*

Skeet was the name of the girls' game. They'd started off in friendly competition against the standard array of cans and bottles, but Bentley and Logan were both seven for seven, so Haylen offered to start throwing them. 

"Let's make it interesting," Benny said. "For every shot I make, you have to answer a question." 

"I will if you will," came the response, earning a good-natured laugh from Haylen. 

Reese glanced at the medic. "I take it you found out about our little escapade."

Haylen didn't seem like she cared one way or the other. "Yeah, I heard it from one of Neriah's scribes, you don't know her." 

"Kidd probably started it," Vicki's eyes rolled as surely as the waves gently slapping the shore. "Gav doesn't tell about his own adventures, but anyone else's are fair game. C'mon roja, let me have one." 

"You got it." The scribe wound up and sent a bottle spinning end over end in a graceful arc. Bentley lined up her night-vision scope and nailed the target just as it passed its peak. 

"All right, Logan, let's see. You came out of a vault, you were with the 104th infantry before the war ... oh I know. What's the biggest difference between fucking then and now."

Haylen let out a surprised little chuff of breath. "That's what you want to ask her?"

A shrug. "Not like I'd get much out of food I've never tasted or music I've never heard. At least for this there's a reference."

"True," Reese agreed. "Okay. Aside from worrying about getting killed during the act or people thinking Butcher Pete is mood music? Showers."

Benny cocked her head. 

"People used to take showers every day." 

"You're shitting us." 

"Nope. Haylen, back me up on this." 

The redhead chewed her lip. "I know there used to be a lot more running water, but everybody? Took all-over showers every day?"

"Sometimes twice in the summer, or if you had a hot date. Did you know when we got into the police station and you told me there was a washstand in the garage? I almost cried. I'd nearly gotten used to just scraping off the ghoul-bits." Reese shuddered before recovering and flashing a grin. "So yeah, showers. Also guys used to be cut. These days it's nothing but turtlenecks, far as the eye can see." 

"That's why all the porn looks weird," said Benny, like a light bulb had gone off. "Wait a minute. Far as the eye can see?  
How many --"

"Uh-uh-uh," Reese waved her finger. "My turn." 

Haylen flung an empty Gwinnett bottle and the new recruit zapped it squarely. Logan shot off her question with just as little fuss. "How did Gav end up assigned to Danse's squad if they're seeing each other?" 

"We were all together as knights," Vicky said with a shrug. "When Danse made paladin they just gave him the command. Probably the chain-of-command lecture too, but it's not like anybody worried. This is Danse we're talking about."

Logan took that and turned it over. "You're slighting our gallant CO?"

"Don't get me wrong, I would take -- hell, I already took a bunch of bullets for the man. But he's so by-the-book he pretty much is the book."

"She's right," Haylen nodded. "And I know books."

"That reminds me," Benny added with a sly look, "you seem pretty interested in what's between those covers."

"That sounds like another question." Logan said, handing the scribe another bottle from their rapidly dwindling stack.

"Call it an observation. More than one, actually."

Haylen nodded she'd seen the same thing, causing Reese to put a hand on one hip. "Guys, come on."

They kept watching her. 

"Okay, I mean, I'd hit that if he wasn't my sponsor and out of my league. Who wouldn't?" 

"Me," Haylen said. She turned back towards the fire in the distance where a laugh had gone up. Nico was waving his hands around, most likely in the middle of one of his stories. "Danse is a lot more like a brother. Has been since the start."

"Or me," Benny added. "I mean, he's nice to look at but he's such a goody-goody." She made a face, as if virtue was a vice. "However, you just reminded me of another question."

"Hit something and ask away." Logan challenged.

But Vicky's next shot went wide. "Qué chingados! I totally had that."

"Oh how the mighty have fallen. Pull!" Reese said, with a grin. When no target was launched she amended, "uh, sorry. That used to mean 'I'm ready'." 

Benny huffed when Reese hit her mark. "It's that damn AER9," she groused "Danse was modding that thing up for months before he gave it to you, you know that?" 

"Just keep telling yourself it's the rifle." Reese said. The secret with trash-talk was to smile while you did it. "All right, chica, best lay in corps, go."

"Um," Haylen broke in. "Maybe not."

"Nah, it's okay." In the light from a fat moon and from the floods on the other side of the supply depot, Vicki found a wide rock to stand on so she could sink down onto her haunches. "Besides, somebody should warn her. Might as well be me."

At Logan's pregnant pause she went on. "It's Gav. We used to be a thing." 

"Shit, I'm sorry." 

Vicky was balancing her upper arms on her knees and yet still managed to shrug. "Believe me, if I was that broken up about it, you think I'd've been okay with him getting that close to us?"

"Guess not." 

"It's share and share alike as far as Kidd's concerned." Haylen put in. "He's like the Brotherhood's --:

"Bicycle," Knight Bentley interrupted, which touched off their own round of laughter.

"I was going to say secret weapon." An offshore breeze ruffled the select hairs that weren't caught up in the field scribe's ponytail. 

"Except nothing's secret. My dumb mistake was thinking I could change him." Vicki paused for a sigh. "But, yeah, that guy plays around more than a barracks full of squires on unification day. Making him stand and watch was definitely some sweet payback."

"Wait a minute you said 'plays'. As in present tense." At the lack of response, Reese hiked her eyebrows up like a woman running in skirts. "Wait, you're mean Kidd and Danse are _together_ together?" Why hadn't that occurred to her sooner? Willful ignorance, perhaps? The way they were all acting led her to believe that Kidd and Danse just screwed around on occasion.

"You didn't get that during the card game?"

"Hell no. Who flirts that hard if they're in a relationship? Besides, at the warehouse, when he --" Logan cut herself off. "Jesus. The nerve." 

Haylen intervened. "He doesn't -- I mean …." She trailed off, watching Vicki, who looked up from where she was still crouching, laying their few remaining bottles on their sides, with the necks facing the same way. 

"Haylen thinks the best of everyone." Benny was noncommittal. "She was going to say Gav doesn't mean any harm without trying to piss me off. She's right, though. He doesn't."

The new knight turned towards where it was darkest and muttered something too low to be heard and maybe wasn't meant to be.

"Sorry," Bentley offered. "I know you got into it with your ex over that."

"Don't be" For a moment, Reese looked out over the water, debating how personal she wanted to get with these women despite having slept with one of them. "I was six months along when I caught them. It was at our house. In our bed."

Bentley winced, but it was Haylen who felt the need to break the silence. "Did he try throw it back? Do a 'you don't understand'?"

"Doesn't matter. Nate's gone now and besides," Reese threw in a bitter grin, "it was literally centuries ago."

She and Benny remained in their states of standing or crouching. Haylen found a taller rock and sat down. The silence stretched out and eventually the Brotherhood's newest recruit also tried to find an area that was wider than her butt and not too pointy. 

"Kidd doesn't cheat, though." Benny said. At Reese's look she continued, "Danse knows about everyone he gets with, including me. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I'm still pissed about the way Gav handled things, but he's honest. Maybe too honest, but whatever."

"So it's an open relationship?"

"Only on one end." At Logan's look, Benny shrugged. "Somehow they make it work." 

"Things are different now," Haylen offered. "Most people don't stay together their whole lives."

Reese shook her head. "Even then, people didn't. They'd get divorced, run off with someone, or sometimes just disappear. The government or the Chinese probably took some, but a lot of assholes would just hide because life during the resource wars was easier without a family to support. Nate always said he'd never do that." A snort rose up against the words. "Like he was so noble."

Silence descended again, although Reese wasted little time before thumbing her weapon's safety back on, slinging Righteous Authority over her shoulder, and cocking one hip. "But best lay, you said. For real?" 

"Hands down."

"Hands down there and everywhere," Haylen muttered and rolled her eyes. "No, not me. But I've heard stories. Some have got to be exaggerated, though."

"Do tell," Reese arched her brows in a way that revealed she was interested. Which, as the night got older and again as they marched and camped together on the way to their assigned objective, became more and more true, based on what Haylen and Bentley said as they compared notes. Gavin Kidd was a smidge less attractive than Johnathan Danse, but he was, by all accounts, a lot more attainable.


	5. Well Trained

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen to [Lone Digger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbQgXeY_zi4>) on repeat during the action sequences.

Gavin moved up behind Danse outside the door and offered Reese a quick smile as she fell into the lineup on his team. He had heard she was in the military pre-war, but he wasn’t sure if they had taught her the same manner of tactics the Brotherhood used. On the road to Med-Tek, they had staged a mock breach and clear of a building, probably for Reese’s sake. She'd done okay. Nothing to write home about, but also not bad enough to get any of them killed. Then again, Gav hadn’t done his best either; he was overly competitive and showed off more than he probably should have.

With his rifle held to the right of Danse’s power armor, Gav turned his attention back to surveying the nearby area for hostiles. Then his focus started to sharpen. His usual grin melted away to reveal a look of complete seriousness as he waited patiently for the signal to rush the door.

The gauntleted hand came back and tapped Gavin’s knee and he reached back with his left hand, keeping his right firmly on the grip of his rifle, as he passed the silent signal along to the rear of the breaching squad.

Danse lifted his armored boot and, with an explosive sound of metal on metal, kicked the door well into the room.

Gavin, Danse and Rhys leaned into the doorway simultaneously, exactly as they had trained; the three rifle-tips were a blossom of death. The few raiders inside the main room and were taken out before they even knew what was going on.

As soon as their feet crossed the threshold, they quickly split. Danse took Alpha team along the path of least resistance to the right, the barrel sweeping his corner, the opposite corner, center of room. Gavin took Bravo team to the left and mirrored their counterparts exactly.

Raiders scuttled out like radroaches after hearing the commotion from Danse loudly boot-fucking the front door. Gavin saw Logan quickly pick off two of them with zero hesitation after she found a position near him. 

“Room clear, sound off. One up!” Danse’s voice rang out into the large room. The rest of Alpha team called out in response then they continued leap-frogging the remainder of the building in their respective teams.

When they first started out, Gavin was watching out for Logan. But as they moved from room to room, he switched that off. She was a lot more competent than the newbies Gav was used to working with. In fact, she was damn good. As they finished, Gav realized that Logan had probably also played off the mock B&C. Maybe the knight deserved her quick promo after all.  

"Fuck yeah, newbie," Ortiz was heard to say as he jerked his chin at Reese. "Get some!"

“You handled yourself well, soldier.” Danse removed his helmet and nodded to her as well.

Bentley nudged Gav and echoed quietly, “you handled yourself well, soldier.”

“Eat a dick.” Gavin elbowed her away.

She flashed a mocking grin. “You wish.”

“Pair up, salvage anything that may be of use, and meet back here at oh-six-hundred.” Danse pointed at the floor in a no-nonsense kind of way.

Ortiz stepped close to Reese and put his arm around her shoulders. “Dibs.”

Benny glared at him. “You can't call dibs on--”

“You’re supposed to show her the ropes, not your dick.” Baxter smirked at Tease and Benny both in turn.

“I’ll show her some ropes.” Niko added with a chuckle.

“Enough.” Danse’s deep voice cut them all off. “Nikolav, you’re with Bentley upstairs. Ortiz and Baxter, you're on cleanup, main level. ” He pointed at them each in turn. “Kidd, take Logan and cover sublevel A. Rhys and I are on perimeter until the turrets are set up. Haylen will take charge of that."

Gav grinned, “yes, sir.” His regular nonchalance was back now that Tease and Bax were stuck dragging smelly raider corpses out the door.  Foul language didn't fly well with Danse. A single 'dick' or a 'fuck' was enough to put anyone on his list. Maybe he'd figured out who'd been in on the hazing, too.

They emptied supplies and ammo out of their packs and started canvassing one of the sublevels, passing through dusty offices without much of use before stepping into the middle of a treatment room lit only by the light of an old floor lamp.

"I normally scavenge for settlements," Reese said. "Remind me what's on our list."

“Oh, you know…” Gavin opened and closed desk drawers casting only brief glances at the contents, “meds, ammo, skin mags.”  
  
“Porn is imporn-tant,” she said, wrestling with a stubborn filing cabinet.

“Quinlan loves it when I stick stroke books inside tech docs.”

"You do not," came the pushback.  

Oh, but he did.

After some half-assed searching, Gav set his rifle down by the desk and stepped up behind Reese. He reached around her and slowly closed the drawer she had been looking through.

She turned to see him grinning down at her and cocked an eyebrow in silent question. A thrill went through her, clit to scalp, but she was damned if she was going to play it anything but cool. "Can I help you?"

“I was thinking we could help each other.” His hand remained braced against the top drawer behind her as he stood close enough for her to feel his heat.

“Hmm…” She smiled that playful smile of hers. “Thought Danse put us together to avoid this very thing."

"Really?" Gavin said. "Pretty sure he told me to take you.”

Reese put her hands on his flak vest and leaned teasingly in. “Well then. Wouldn’t want to disobey a direct order.”

He moved his head next to hers and spoke quietly, “No, ma’am.” Gav hooked three fingers into her waistband and pulled her hips to his as he scraped his teeth against her neck. He smiled against her skin and made a deep throated appreciative sound as she shivered.

“And here I was thinking you forgot about me.” Reaching up let her card short nails through Gav’s hair and trace the stubble along his jaw.  

“You did?” Gavin played into it. “What gave you that idea?”

She served up a shrug with a side of slow blink. “Lots of pretty kitties in our cardboard box."

"Including yourself."

She let out a "humph" that was deliberately neutral, even though the way she kept moving her hips in that slow back-and-forth was pretty clear. "You think I'll give it up for just _'_ pretty _’_?"

Gav gave her his outlaw look. Women in particular seemed to love it, plus he'd read about this guy named Billy the Kidd one time. "How about _'outstanding'_?"

The tiniest indrawn breath might have given her away. Maybe. But Logan kept her cool. Their lips were almost touching as it was, so it was no work at all for Gav to close that final distance and kiss them open, first dry and soft and then wetter and increasingly powerful. A thigh up between her legs let him feel, even through their clothing, how hot she was.

"You're a bad boy, Gavin Kidd."

"Show me how bad?"

"I think I can manage that." She grasped the thick, wavy hair just above the back of his neck and led Gav to a banged-up desk next to the filing cabinet. She sat down on it before settling him in between her thighs.

He joked, “Just so you know, my safeword is Yelly McBeardypants.”

Gav's constant sass made it hard for Reese to understand how he stayed clear of whatever Brotherhood used as a brig, though it didn’t stop her from being interested. Kind of the opposite, really. Still, she wasn’t sure whether schooling this kid or playing after-school games were at the top of her list.

“Why’d you join if you’ve got such a hard-on for challenging authority?” She smiled up at him.

“Panties and power armor, same as you.”

Gav played Reese's laugh to his advantage, slipping in a warm and questing tongue. He went at it for a little longer, giving Reese time to get impatient so that she kissed him back more fiercely. His lips were tingling and a little swollen by the time they slowed down again.

“Benny gave me some intel the other day,” she said, low.

That cocky glint was back. “I knew you'd ask. Ten out of ten, am I right?”

“Well, there was something like 'hot as fuck'." She leaned back, carding fingers through his hair and sending prickles showering away from every point of contact. "And you can apparently go all night. Which happened. More than once.”

He stole another kiss and tugged at one of the straps on his vest. Off it came. “Told you.”

“I asked if she’d recommend you to a sister, because, you know, not everyone might be okay with passing you around like _hors d’oeuvres_. Although here’s where, pardon my carrot sticks, —"

“Your what?”

“My _crudités_ , but I'll bust out the direct quote. She said ‘hell no’. Or was it 'hell-to-the-fucking-no?' I don't actually remember.”

It was Gav’s cue to lean away. Why was Reese starting trouble when she was obviously so ready to get down? “Benny —“ and he bit it off. “I told her right from the start.“

“Yeah, you like to play, I get it. Did you know my husband used to? I mean, my used-to-be husband.” A non-apologetic smile.

She didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing Gav flinch, but squeezing his thigh, running a strong hand around to do the same to his ass seemed to make him more amenable to listening. “See, I've got a thing for bad boys. Especially if they're tall and dark, and have the stubble going on, the attitude. Know they're pure sex and don't do what anybody says ….”

Her strong hand wandered and now, _fuck_ , she was cupping him. That did it. Gav undid the buckles just behind her shoulders so her armored vest fell away and then gathered her in close. Pushing the ridge he had going on tight against her made it harder for Reese stay composed. There were people to do — no, wait, things. Things to say.

“So I asked her why _ninguna recomendación_ , and she said ‘he doesn’t get to play that game anymore’.”

Gavin, rocking slowly against her, went still.

“Then again," she purred up at him. "There’s no reason you and I can’t be friends."

Gav wished she'd get to the point. "Assuming I do what?"

The smile was back. "Whatever you want."

Her words, her sooty lashes flitting down against her cheeks, the way she looked back up and nailed him with a hungry stare: all of those things went straight to Gav's cock.

"But play nice. Because I'm onto you."

Gav couldn't help himself. "Or is that I'm onto you?"

She shrugged. "Let's find out."

Gav peeled the Logan's sweater off over her head. The tight tank they issued sisters to keep them supported looked amazing on her athletic body. Her skin, about the same shade as Kells', was satiny and had minor scarring compared to the rest of them. He remembered being curious about that back in logistics and wanting to put his hands on Reese even more. Now here she was: warm, willing, and ready to get with him. Stealing two the pads off two gurneys and flipping them so the cleaner sides were face up seemed like the thing to do, and he worked on that.

He was mock-gallant as fuck as he swept a hand out, “Knight.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Reese took it and he lowered her.

Gav joined her on their makeshift bed, claiming her mouth again or maybe she, his. Didn't matter, there was claiming. Over and over, deep and hot, her nipples practically burning holes in his palms. The quiet moans that seeped out of her made him throb. Luckily, she didn't waste any time either. Good thing he had a zipper and not a button fly because buttons might have ended up all over the room. Not that she would’ve cared. His silky length was all she wanted — tugging it, sweeping a hand up over the crown and milking it for the slick she could use to stroke him harder. 

“What do you want?” he said into her ear as he nipped it's outermost ridge.

"How about not full monte."  

"Works for me." There was a groan as he opened Reese's pants and felt how wet she was. Before long he'd taken those pants down around her thighs and was working at her like he’d seen Benny do. “I saw this trick one time...”

She squirmed under his touch. “Gav, my uniform.”

“You squirt like that every time?”

“Touch me like that and, unnh …” Her eyes shut tight as he began to put his talents to use.

“Then let’s get these off you," he knelt up and took her pants down. ”Or we’ll end up down here all night.” A kiss to the knee earned a giggle as he started unlacing her boots.

The sensitivity of her knees seemed to intrigue Gav. Reese got it. Force of nature when weapons were hot, ticklish as hell at other times — was a mystery he maybe wanted to explore. He kissed her a few more times until Reese grabbed her own kneecaps in an effort to keep the boy away until he grew some sense and lay down. It didn’t work. So she outmaneuvered Gav by bringing his thumb between her full lips and letting her tongue dance on it until his eyes widened. It was one way to get a man’s attention. Once she had it, Reese backed up to let him see more of what she was doing while she got his pants down around his calves.

“Changed my mind,” he said with a grin and let Reese move her head to his lap.

Much better. She used her mouth to suck and one hand to twist and pump like she was buffing a .50 cal, glancing up every once in awhile to see his dark look. Gav watched from a leaned-back pose, braced on one elbow so he could slide the other hand encouragingly through her soft cloud of hair. He really liked watching. Their eyes met over the slick sounds she was making and he bit his lip every time she pulled off to lick a stripe up his underside. It wasn’t long before he was back on both elbows, hips moving at a steady pace and then a faster one until he curled toward her and unloaded, hot, and so thickly it felt like he'd been saving up for weeks.  

A couple drops escaped. Reese thumbed them off before he laid her back down and put hands on her again. And then  his mouth. He wanted her to cum on his fingers like she did for Benny, but he wanted to taste her even more. 

Reese couldn't help gasping. Those rumors Haylen was scoffing at were maybe just a little exaggerated. For a while Gav's tongue was farther inside Reese than she’d thought possible and, man, did that ever feel good. Before long she was one big erogenous zone. Even the thumb he was using to tighten the skin at the top of her mound was making her throb, although it was nothing compared to the concentrated attention he was lavishing on her clit. Some guys were takers in bed. Gav was apparently not one of those guys. When it came time for Reese to give it up, she nearly arched away from the mat, the payoff was so strong.

It took longer than usual for her to come down. Through it all, Kidd was a noninvasive presence — warm, with some manly fuzz around his breastbone and jaw, blue eyes on her as much as the rest of the room, and fingers draped casually over her now more slowly rising and falling abs.  

“Gorgeous,” Gav said. He was leaning over her, using his free hand to stroke and caress her skin, cup her breast and roll a hard nipple between his fingers. He drank in the sight of her body, but also focused on her face. The tiny changes in her eyebrows and lips.  

When his hand began to slowly make its way down south again, Reese cracked an eye open.  "I'm actually okay."

That grin again. “You can be better.”

“Stay away from my knees.”

“Squire’s honor,” he said with a fist over his chest. Logan had to smile. Was that honestly a thing that people said?  

He sat between her thighs nestling his ring and middle fingers into her as he learned the spots spots and rhythms that made Reese dig her heels into the mats. All right, so coming undone for a wickedly hot guy who wasn’t fazed by her unusual talent wasn’t the worst thing in the post-apocalyptic world. She'd even help.

“To the left. … no, my left. Wait. Ohfuckthere. There.” She pressed towards him, then rolled her torso all the way down through her hips, grinding against the sweet pressure.

“That’s it? That what you want?”

“Ohhh." She made sounds that were up the scale. Way up.

He kept those fingers glued to where she'd told him. It took longer than when Benny had done it; Gav was still learning. But in the end he coaxed out such a pure love-note it felt like her tongue was going to go through her hard palate before she gasped, groaning with the incredible release that slammed into her, all the way up to the high-tide line until she was nothing but a fountain of girl yelling _unnh; fuck; yeah_.

He watched until the hurricane was over, cock perking up a little. Then he tasted her.

“It’s sweet...” Gavin was sucking on one finger with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Yeah, kinda.” Reese said quietly once her ears had stopped buzzing and she cared about the physical world. “But try it the other way before you -- wait, not _now_ ,” She held a warning hand over that too-sensitive part of her. “Damn, boy.”

He smiled and that vertical scar on his face looked better than ever. “Some other time then.”

Reese gave a little nod and closed her eyes.

Gav retreated for awhile. He came back all fastened, with a can of purified water and a towel he’d "forgotten" to take out of his pack. Except for his pink flush and the way his hair was sticking up, nobody would have known he’d just been in flagrante. Reese, on the other hand, would need more time to get it together.

“You are something else," he said once he'd started gently wiping her down.

“I think you’re the one who should be giving autographs.”

He shrugged, “I'll settle for just fucking my fans."

Reese nearly did a spit-take, although she recovered fast. On one hand, he was being so attentive. On the other -- did this even matter to him? Irritation flared up. Was she just another notch in his rifle-barrel?

She took the towel from him and started playing more of an active role that included sitting up, putting on clothes and brushing her uniform down. "Then why even have a boyfriend?" she said tartly.   

Gavin took pause for a moment as he regarded her, trying not to glare at her tone. “Danse…” He took a breath then shrugged it off, “does a lot for me. He just doesn’t make a very pretty girl.”

She made a face at that. Seemed like a lame excuse, if that was what he was going with. “I heard you mess around with any and everyone, no matter what they’re packing.”

He narrowed his eyes for an instant as she started to tread on dangerous ground with her presumptuous prodding. “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t just fuck anything that moves.” Gavin said, the minute she was decent. Then he picked up his rifle and left without another word.


	6. Reflections

“The whole damn machine?!” Ortiz watched Danse, who was taking to Rhys near the opposite side of the room. He added, in a lower tone, to Bax. "Is he serious?"

Baxter smirked, “Of course he’s serious, he’s Danse. The man wouldn’t know how to relax if there was a manual for it.”

Gavin sighed quietly to himself. Danse, in all his paladin-y wisdom, had decided to extract a metric shit-ton of the diagnostic equipment around Med-Tek. It was going to be more than one bird-load to the Pryd. Probably more like three loads, counting hauling their asses back, as well.

Within the long hours spent disassembling tech for transport, collecting piles of experimental drugs and heaps of strange-ass medical devices, Gavin had a lot of time to think about what Reese had said. Her words had sunk deep and swirled through his mind relentlessly. Plus many of the things she didn’t say nibbled at his brain in annoying, molerattty ways.

The first feeling to wash over him was a bucket of hot resentment. 

_He doesn’t get to play that game anymore._

Reese's voice kept echoing in his head. Maybe if Danse was open to multiplayer he wouldn’t be so uptight in general. But Danse was… Danse. He just didn’t understand sex without love. Teach the man a new game and he'd forget all about the old one. 

_Why even have a boyfriend?_

Because Gavin loved him and didn’t want to lose him. But Gav also liked women. And other men. Even Reese. She stuck her nose in where she shouldn't, but the rest of her was pretty damn fine, including her comebacks. He liked a woman who could hold her own. 

Gavin sat cross-legged on a cleared off countertop and fidgeted idly with the wrapper of his four-star MRE delicacy. He narrowed his eyes at Reese across the room. She'd spread out a bunch of pre-war odds and ends from around the building and was getting Danse to try and guess what they were for. Fucking giggling when he got things wrong.

But why did that even bother Gav at all? 

“You gonna eat that or just finger it all day?” Ortiz hopped up on the counter next to him and smirked.

Gav blinked his molerat thoughts away, tore the wrapper open and shoved half the pocket sandwich unceremoniously into his mouth like he was doing it on a dare. Not the smartest move.

“Goddamn, Kidd… Don’t fuckin’ choke on it!” Ortiz cuffed him on the back.

Benny leaned against the counter and picked casually at her nails. “How often does he hear _that_ line?”

Gav swallowed and smirked at her, “more often than you’d think.”

She rolled her eyes and looked away. And that stung a little. Gavin never hid his intentions from anyone, in fact he was pretty blunt about it. He'd told Benny what he was after right from the start, so it was on her if she caught feelings. But the worst part wasn't even Benny thinking he was an asshole. It was having no clue she felt that way until Reese pointed it out. 

Gav's eyes fell on Danse again. 

He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could read Logan’s body language clear as a fucking bell. She kept leaning in. And now Danse was too? 

So the next feeling to douse Gav was a double handful of jealousy.

“The item recovery is running longer than anticipated,” the paladin said to his team after they'd finished lunch. “We’re looking at one more night here as it stands." 

A question from Haylen drew the CO's attention, giving Tease the chance to let out a pointed sigh. 

Niko, a little ways down the counter, elbowed Tease. “Not like we got anything better to do. You have a hot date back on the Pryd?”

“Hot date with Rosie Palm.” Bax snorted quietly.

“Hot date with your sister." Ortiz's comeback-rifle was always on auto. 

Baxter shrugged, “You might actually be the only one my sister hasn’t been with.

Benny smirked, “Ouch.”

“Been with _yet.”_ Ortiz made a lewd gesture involving his hips and one hand placed palm down in front of him. Which, of course, got their commander's attention.

“That’s enough. Get moving.” Danse glared at the group and most of them quietly dispersed. He turned to Reese and sighed, “I apologize for their behavior. I understand if you’d be more comfortable running same shift as myself or getting these chems sorted with Haylen."

Gavin crossed his arms and cocked his chin, “She’s a big girl … she can handle herself just fine.”

The paladin regarded from under those heavy brows until Gavin shifted uneasily and then pushed off the wall to go with the others. Danse must have noticed the shit-poor pile of salvage he and Reese had come up with last night, although he didn't know why that was an issue. Danse was well aware of how Gav talked people into taking unsanctioned breaks. In fact, the thought started a mental holovid for Gav of coaxing his boyfriend away from Reese and fucking his brains out.

What was with her, anyway? She had such a fucking lady-boner for Danse it was ridiculous. Of course, she probably saw the same thing that attracted Gavin to the man in the first place. He was loyal, caring, compassionate and kind almost to a fault. Not to mention that ass. Gav sighed to himself as he went back to the console he'd been unbolting from the wall. 

The knight's third reaction came later that afternoon. It was a teaspoon full of remorse. 

He and Benny were outside, covering a lancer and scribe who were strapping yet another load of tech into their bird. It was cold and blustery. Every waving shrub felt like it was hiding something, though with the turrets set up, they didn't have to be on hyper-alert. 

“Hey, Ben…” Gavin tugged on the knight’s sleeve and grinned as he held up an MRE dessert.

She raised an eyebrow as her hand slowly reached out for it. “What do you want?”

“Peace offering.” 

“Cardboard crackers?” She narrowed her eyes a little.

He pointed at the words, “nuh-uh… It’s a cardboard _cookie._ Says so right here.”

“Mierda, chico… It’s fucking crackers. They’re all crackers.” She flicked the wrapping with a finger. Pocketing the food, Benny looked him up and down, “So… What do you want? I’m not gonna jump on your dick for a chunk of chocolate chip drywall.”

Gav ran his hand through his hair and lost his cocky grin. “Listen, I’m…” _\--Say it--_ He hesitated. “Just…” Deep breath. 

“You’re what? Barking up the wrong tree?” She rechecked the nearest cluster of real ones before letting her gaze travel back to his face.

He nodded slowly, “yeah.” Motioning to her pocket he smiled faintly, “Just take the damn olive branch and stop looking at me like that.” 

She relaxed slightly and pressed a hand against the pocketed rations. “Yeah, whatever.” She fell silent for a moment and her eyes searched his face briefly. “Thanks for the cardboard.” 

That night Reese ended up pulling first watch with Danse because offuckingcourse she did. 

Gav was stretching out some soreness near the check-in counter in the Med-Tek lobby. He was tired, but didn't feel like turning in just yet. Besides, Bax and Niko were betting on who could stack the highest tower of bedpans. In half a minute there was going to be a catastrophic noise with Rhys running in to tell them to shut the fuck up before every ghoul and mutie in the goddamn CW had their location. Gav wanted to be around for that.

Tease sauntered up beside Gav and smiled down at Bentley, “how about a quick foxtrot before firewatch?”

“How about you foxtrot off a cliff?” Benny flashed an easy smile as she leaned back on her couch and slid herself down to a comfortable position near a corner.

“Jeez, not even a bro-job, huh?” 

“I got you covered. On your knees, Knight.” Gavin stood with his feet apart and grinned.

Tease pushed him away, “In your fucking dreams.” 

“If you say so.” Gav shrugged, the grin never fading. That particular dream wouldn’t be a bad one. Ortiz was easy on the eyes and might even be fun if he kept his stupid mouth shut. 

Gav sighed as he sat down on his bedroll and wadded his jacket up as a pillow, trying to get it just right before lying down. He usually had the soldier's talent of being able to crash just about anywhere at any time. But tonight he rolled and fidgeted, unable to get really comfortable. 

Once he finally drifted off, it seemed like his eyes weren't closed for thirty seconds before he had to go take a leak. But it must have been a lot later. Everybody but the watch was sacked out on or in their bedrolls. The building's lights had dimmed down to glowing strips near the floors of every level. 

Gav went up to the roof. Only dumbass initiates used pre-war sinks or toilets and never for long. Just one incident of broken plumbing was all took to piss off your whole squad, if not because of a surprise shower then at least because of the smell. Besides, letting pissing off of tall buildings was fun. He’d spent more than one watch taking bets on which brother or funnel-using sister could tag the most rad-rats in one go.

There was a good spot behind some ductwork to let fly. The moon was still walled up behind clouds, but you could sort of see where it was. The only other light came from a lantern on the other side of the aluminum maze where he could hear Reese and Danse talking.

He’d just buttoned up when he heard it again. That giggle.

Sure enough, when Gav peered around the corner, there they were with their backs to him. Reese was sitting on one hip in front of a rifle, probably hers, disassembled on a tarp. Danse was cross-legged next to her, so close their arms were practically touching. He was out of his armor, too. Gav could see it standing watch at the waist-high lip of the roof. The paladin even had his hood off, which was weird. He almost never did that when they were in the field. 

“So the pump source goes into the resonance cavity,” Reese murmured. Gav heard the click as she slotted it in. “Then these screws go where?”

“They seal the chamber.” Danse said patiently. “Be gentle or you’ll strip them.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Reese said with a sidelong look. Goddamn, she was bold. Meanwhile, Danse was his usual oblivious self, although it wasn't as cute with Logan practically drooling on him.

Danse leaned still closer. “Do you want me to do it?”

“Nope. I got myself into this.”

That made Gav stiffen, and not in the good way. Logan knew. She fucking knew his boyfriend’s weakness for mods. How he’d light up when anybody was around the weapons bench or power armor station. Hell, she probably had this planned from the start.

“Most knights don't need to know this level of detail," Danse murmured. 

She shrugged. “If I’m really going to learn how to mod them….”

As the moment stretched out, Danse must have felt it because he swallowed and looked pointedly away. But Miss Popsicle wasn’t done. “So this injection seeder. I’m guessing it goes … right about here?”

With her thumb and forefinger, Reese held the little component up before trying to connect it with the resonance chamber in her lap. “Huh. Doesn’t fit.”

“Sometimes you have to twist a little.”

She let the words hang there until Danse finally caught on, both to the double entendres flying around and the situation in general. Gavin would have rolled his eyes if he wasn’t so pissed off. And turned on. Reese was nearly at Gav’s level of talking people into things. In a sickening kind of way, he was impressed.

“Show me?”

They were touching now. With their hands on the heart of Righteous Authority, Danse slid the tiny laser-within-a-laser home. He did it without looking because, for one thing, he was Danse. But he was also looking at her. Gazing. Right then was when the Brotherhood’s newest recruit started kissing the Brotherhood’s most respected paladin. And he started letting her.

It wasn’t like with Benny. Reese was taking it long and slow, her soft lips just ghosting over his before tasting. Danse did break it off after a minute. But it was only to put the resonance cavity back on its cloth and then rest his forehead on hers. Then she went in for another kiss. Deeper, hotter. And, fuck, Danse was only a man. Gav couldn’t really blame him for slinging a bulging arm around Logan and reeling her in. The two of them looked amazing backlit and probably to each other. All warm brown eyes and dark hair. His messy from taking off his hood and hers even taller and springier. 

They kissed for what felt like ages with Gav again just watching and again not turning away. Not even rushing in to stop things. He stood like someone had cryo-grenaded him to the spot as Danse tipped the two of them onto a section of canvas that wasn’t full of rifle parts. He ground what was no doubt one hell of a mod-induced erection between her parted legs and she moaned thick and sweet. Like the wild honey Gav had dug his hand into exactly once before some rad-bees made him regret it.

It was hard to believe Reese was so needy again so fast. He'd made her come twice not a day before. But there she was begging Danse to fuck her after just a few minutes of all-out grinding, coaxing him to get up so she could roll on her side and start wiggling her pants off. Fuck! How come she wanted the full monty with Danse and not him? 

“You — you’re sure?”

“Oh god, Danse. Yes,” she panted, bending one arm up behind his neck to run her nails over it in exactly the way Gav knew the paladin liked.

That was all it took for their CO to unsnap his uniform and guide his goddamn pump source into her fucking resonance cavity. Gav didn’t know what was worse, Reese claiming something that didn’t belong to her? Over … or was it underestimating Danse? Or his boyfriend sliding home while Gav was still back at third? He could hardly stand to watch. 

Still, their push-pull was a fucking sight. Danse would slide out until Reese was scrunching up a handful of canvas and then ram back in so that she gasped. Logan did magic things with her hips until Danse whisper-swore into her thick hair, ramping up the intensity until he told her he was seconds away from losing it and Gav felt his own heartbeat on every downstroke of his own aching cock.

That was when the crash of the stacked up bedpans jolted Gavin out of his dream. It had every other soldier not on watch with eyes and sights on the exits. It even had Reese and Danse, in full combat and full power armor respectively, thundering down the stairs to find out what in the ‘wealth was trying to break down the doors. 

Gavin, however, stayed in his bedroll, yawning theatrically as he thought of anything and everything to take care of the insane hard-on threatening to rip a hole in his pants. 

*

They made it back the next day and split up for whatever duties were assigned. Fucking liberty ban. You could have clean ops back to back and the most you'd get is an extra mutfruit on your dinner tray. 

Gav wound up on salvage detail for a couple days, stripping steel plates off the old jetliners so they could go into parts for new birds. That was all right. Nico and Tease were talking up a plan to paint racing stripes on Neriah's mole rats when nobody was around and listening in helped pass the time. Rehabbing lasers that were too fucked up to shoot straight was the next job. Gav was on with Lucia for that. All she had to do was say "There once was a ghoul from Nantucket" and the afternoon was pretty much made. 

What didn't sit as well was some bullshit about clearing ghouls and bits of ghouls out from underneath the airport. Turns out that nutjob Clarke had been hiding a flight deck worth of them down here. Feeding them! Like it wasn't hard enough to get a tin of Cram in your allowance. 

Gav's personal vision involved making Clarke take every last rotting ghoul-glob out of here by himself. Or Logan. She was the one who'd killed them all. But Danse apparently didn't think she should get her hands dirty and Clarke was in Cambridge memorizing the inside of a cell. So the whole squad was down here. Rhys and Logan in the parking garage, Niko and Tease in the subway tunnels, Bax, Benny and himself clearing out some long, low room where conveyors used to move suitcases around. 

To add to the jollies, Bax was pissed as hell. Rhys and Logan had come through hours ago with the body of Knight Rylan, a kid from Bax's old settlement who'd joined the Brotherhood partly because of Bax's letters home. Seeing what was left of Rylan was hard. Ghouls in the field were one thing -- a danger everybody knew. But getting taken out by roamers deliberately left alive, collected by a supposed brother who was a few Sugar Bombs short of a bowl was a lot worse. 

So Gav and Benny worked on dragging ghouls around on tarps until they could be dumped into carts and taken up the elevator while Bax opened suitcases, looking for salvage. As a nod to Bax's loss, Gav and Benny didn't try on any of the stupid hats he was throwing into the scrap pile. Normally, Gav would have snagged the tall black one and started talking like some pre-war swank on his way to a dinner party. Maybe Benny would have put on the racing helmet and made engine noises. So Gavin amused himself in his imagination. Had to find your entertainment where you could.

When Danse came through to call it a day, Niko and Ortiz were on his tail. The two knights took Bax topside, while Danse helped Gav and Benny wrestle their last and biggest tarp-load into a luggage cart. 

"You'd better take it up alone," Danse nodded to Benny once they'd rolled the squeaky thing into the elevator. "I don't trust those cables to support all of us." 

She winked from behind Danse's back, mouthing "have fun" even though it was nearly the last thing on Gav's mind after cleaning up feral chunks all day. But not the last thing. Never the last. 

Danse had stripped off his gloves and was washing with a clean rag and some purified. He came away pink-faced from scrubbing so hard, folding the cloth into fourths because he was Danse and always would be. It warmed Gav's heart and and bothered him all at the same time, since the paladin had been making himself pretty scarce ever since they got back from Med-Tek. Almost like he'd been avoiding Gav. It was time to find out why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song for this chapter is another rework of a reboot. [Dreams (Axwell Remix) by Deep Dish.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GF4L-BMQt0) The incomparable Stevie Nicks sang the original.


	7. Coming Clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Recommended listening: Showtek & Justin Prime ft. Matthew Koma - [Cannonball (Earthquake)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwOVOSi-5nc)

Danse put the washcloth down and took in the sorry state of his gauntlets. Disgusting. He'd have to give them a thorough going over before he got anywhere near a weapons bench. 

"Where's Rhys and Logan?" Gavin wanted to know. 

"They took the shorter route from the parking garage," Danse said, turning the brown leather this way and that. He wondered if the grime was bad enough to warrant Abraxo Industrial Strength.

"You could've come around the other way. Let us off first."

Gavin's careful neutrality was the first indication of something going on. His gloves were off as well. Streaks of dirt were disappearing as he stroked his own damp cloth along his face and across the back of his neck. 

"I don't see how it matters," Danse said with a shrug. 

"Of course you don't." 

Facial expressions often eluded the paladin but he could read body language easily enough. Here was a pose he privately thought of as Irate Gavin Number Three. Head cocked to the side with folded arms and maybe a sigh thrown in. One of the knight's most irritating habits was making Danse guess at "obvious" information instead of being direct. 

"What am I missing today, Gavin?"

"Well, let's see." He slouched back against a desk and started counting items off on his fingers. "You send us all down here on some bullshit job --"

"Excuse me?" Danse bristled. 

"I don't get it. Why are we even down here?"

Questioning orders didn't suit Gavin and surprised Danse. "If you must know, Elder Maxson wants to set up a munitions plant instead of flying everything out from the Citadel every week. 

"No, I mean why are _we_ down here? Logan started this shit. Put her on cleanup detail." 

"It's not a one-person job. You can see that."

Gavin's pupils nearly vanished behind his upper lids. "You couldn't have found some initiates? I'll take regular sanitation over this any day."

Danse felt a spot in his temple beginning to throb. "You're not making any sense. Who better than my own squad?"

But the knight scoffed. "She must've twisted your head around pretty fucking good at Cambridge."

It was almost as if Gavin was trying to provoke Danse with his foul language and senseless accusations. "No one twisted anything. We talked about war. Losses. Choices we've had to make. When she told me her family was murdered and taken by the Institute --"

"Of course." Gavin made the unprecedented move of hitting himself in the forehead with his palm. "That's why you've been blowing me off since we made it back." 

In the silence that followed there was a sound from a ruined corridor leading up to the office where they stood. A chunk of concrete hitting the ground, or something similar. But Danse barely noticed. There were no more ghouls down here, except for this metaphorical one with its teeth in the subject of Knight Logan, one he was finding impossible to dislodge. To add to Danse's unease, Gavin's eyes were dark. In the low light from a desk lamp, his pupils took up more space than they should.

"Can't believe I never saw it before." Gavin's look deepened with a strange kind of certainty. "You like her."

The accusation was like a jolt to the spine from a hard landing in power armor. For a moment Danse's mind reeled. His stomach twisted.

"I mean you gave her your damn rifle. The one you were working on for months. And then you go moping around about me fucking her when you --"

"Enough!" Danse thundered. The back of his neck prickled and his ears felt hot. "Now you listen. I am sick -" he clenched and unclenched his hands as his insides wrung themselves out "- and tired of you avoiding your part in all of this. Yes, I admire Reese. She's gone through hell and deserves every consideration the Elder or I have given her. But to insinuate I'm somehow infatuated when you were the one who slept with her -- not just right under my nose but while we were in the field. I've told you a thousand times how dangerous that is!"

Gavin blinked. It was the first indication the man was absorbing one shred of the information coming his way. But Danse wasn't finished. "You took advantage of a woman who just lost her husband."

"Oh give it up, she's not shedding any tears. The man was an asshole."

Danse set his jaw. Gavin didn't know. He hadn't trekked with Reese across the Commonwealth, watching her seduce men and women alike in some futile attempt to fill the hole made by her missing family. She didn’t need meaningless sex in her life, she needed a friend. Someone who would care for her and be more loyal than someone like Gavin was ever capable of being.

"And as for 'blowing you off', did you consider for one minute that I was trying to figure out how not to report you for this? The Elder has interest in Logan. He thinks she could help us find the Institute, so he damn sure wouldn't appreciate you or I -"

Gavin, infuriatingly calm again, made finger guns. "Bingo." 

"Oh for -- you have the attention span of a rad-carp sometimes. Do you know that?"

"Admit it, you think she's hot." 

Danse shook his head. "Of course she's attractive, that's not the point."

"That's completely the point. You like her, you can't do anything about it, and you're pissed that I did."

"Disregarding twenty regs has nothing to do with it?" Danse glared from under his brows.

"Okay, that might be a thing." 

The paladin glared some more. 

"Okay, fine, I get it. I fucked up." Gavin swallowed. "I'm sorry." 

The fight went out of Danse. He dropped his arms. But the tension headache was still building. Massage sometimes helped in the early stages. He tried that, scrubbing a hand through his hair. But the mildew and the hot-blood smell of rust were now rushing in and they hadn't bothered him all day. 

"You hurting again?"

"I'll be all right," Danse rubbed his forehead. "I'll take a tenth of a stim if I need it."

"I know something better."

"Gavin," he warned.

"Danse," the knight countered.

He approached, so very light on his feet. That knowing voice, that face wreathed in smiles. Irresistible, even for someone with Danse's level of control. Not to mention Gavin had managed to stave off more than one of the paladin's recurring headaches with a combination of gentle ministrations and passionate sex. 

"Don't think this excuses you," Danse muttered as strong fingers found the exact spot on his temples that promised relief. 

"Yeah, I know.. Here," Gav took Danse's hands and placed them on some tight hemispheres in back of his uniform. "See how big of an ass I am?"

Danse couldn't help smiling as he gave a squeeze. "Sometimes I forget."

With Gavin's long fingers still circling, the tension behind Danse's eyes and in his scalp didn't feel as threatening. And the solid muscle under his hands was starting to feel better and better. 

Then Gav pressed their bodies tightly together and paused with his lips just short of brushing against the paladin’s own. “Kiss me.” 

The way Gavin kissed was so passionate and thorough. The easy slide of his lips and occasional stabs of his hot tongue. Still, Danse found it hard to give himself over. Gavin undoubtedly cared, but what was love to someone who was always looking elsewhere? It brought Danse's attention back to the headache, so he distracted himself with fingers through Gavin's dark hair, pulling that tempting cauldron of a mouth to his, although he stalled when the knight's hand slid between them to cup and squeeze. 

“Gavin…” Danse mumbled breathily against Gavin's needy mouth, “not here.”

“Yes, here.” He nipped at the tender skin on Danse's neck. “Right here. Right now.” 

Danse shuddered lightly, gripping Gav’s hips in his large, strong hands. 

“What if someone--” Danse inhaled sharply as Gavin unfastened the buckle at his neck and exposed more skin to taste.

“What if someone what?” He pulled on straps and zippers until he could bite Danse's collarbone. “What if someone sees what I’m doing to you?” Gavin straightened up and placed a hand on the man’s chest. “Sees me sucking your cock,” Gav pushed Danse into the concrete with a bump and stepped after him with a hungry look on his face. “Fucking you... hard… right here against the wall?"

He let out a strangled sound as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, melting into Gavin's touch and the forbidden ideas he was sending. With his jumpsuit pulled down and Gavin's shirt off, they were chest to bare chest. Danse ran his hands over Gavin's beautiful body… soft skin over rigid muscle. Danse could never get enough of this. The way Gavin's heat seemed to blackmail him, demanding absolute attention.

"What if it was her?" Gavin’s words rolled off his tongue in almost a whisper. "Would you like that?"

Danse's cock twitched. Gav, teasing it with his, must have felt the answer, but his dark eyes wouldn't leave Danse alone until he said it. 

"Yes…" The word was nearly a moan against Gavin’s mouth as they kissed again. Fervent. Needy. 

Danse’s felt a hand slide under jumpsuit as Gavin adjusted him. Traced fingertips along his underside, base to tip and back down, encouraging what was already warm and firm to grow hot and hard. 

"Uh huh." Gavin wrapped his fingers around him more insistently and spilled warm breath against the man’s ear, “So how do you want me?”

A whimper Danse would deny ever making escaped throat as he curled his nails into Gav’s shoulderblades. “Please,” he whispered.

“Please what?” Teeth scraped along Danse’s shoulder, ending in a suckling bite. 

“Please," Danse breathed again, more urgently as he pressed himself against the movements of Gavin's hand, “Suck my cock…”

Gavin loved when he could make Danse use coarse language and beg. Danse knew it. He wanted to give Gavin that cock-twitching thrill. This was what the knight craved, turning powerful, strong-willed people into trembling messes. This was Gavin’s drug and he devoured it greedily. An image of how Reese might have looked on her back, curling into Gavin's touches flashed through Danse's mind. He didn't push the thought away. 

Sinking to his knees, Gavin trailed nips and kisses all the way down. He paused to tug his uniform further down, sucking at a spot on Danse's V-line in a way that was sure to leave a mark. He welcomed it. He pressed back against that mouth and moaned out all the lust that was in him. Ran fingers ran through the knight’s already tousled hair. Clutched a filing cabinet to keep himself upright as he leaned heavily against the concrete chilling his back. 

Danse bit his lip as he watched Gavin mouth him through his briefs. The way he slowly dragged them down was completely riveting. His breath hot on Danse's cock had it jerking in eagerness even before Gav pressed his lips to the wet tip and slowly moved down on him. 

He was a master of that first slide. The sweetly agonizing way he engulfed Danse inch by inch. Then a low hum, those soft wet sounds, all of it urged Danse to make his own. Sighs. Gasps. The deeper, throatier noises he didn't even recognize because by the time he made them, all self-consciousness was gone. Danse forgot himself. He knew it was a point of pride for Gavin, but also a time when the paladin could forget his rank and allow himself to be just a man. 

Gavin wet a finger and eased it teasingly against a place Danse had been quietly hoping for. He pressed inside with the same tempo as his mouth. Too slowly. Danse started trembling around him. He slowly withdrew and then stroked rubbed two fingers over Danse's slick cock, wetting his fingertips to add another. 

“Relax…” Gavin looked up at him and spoke quietly against the skin just over Danse's obliques. 

The reply came only as a quiet gasp followed by a deep drawn out moan. He clutched Gav’s hair as deeper inside, curling and stroking --twisting-- just right. 

“Ga..vin…” Danse closed his eyes for a moment and bucked his hips as much as he could, “Please…” 

“Mm… Please what?” He continued the slow massage… hinting on the promise of something better.

“Please…” Danse reached down and, with the back of Gav's neck, tugged him to his feet to look him in the eye, “Fuck me.”

Victory shone in Gavin's eyes. He new the man craved making him lose control, turning Danse into such such a mess that he would say those words. Gavin bit his bottom lip and grinned for a moment, gave Danse a heated kiss, then turned him around. 

Danse didn’t need to be told. He leaned his forearms against the wall and waited with that tense excitement as Gavin pushed his pants down over his hips and leaned that throbbing cock against the cleft of his ass. Gav slid his other hand up around a thick neck to get his lover's attention.

“How do you want it, Danse?” Heated breath washed over a bare, goosebumped shoulder.

“Hard…” He pressed back desperately.

“You sure?” Gavin smiled and bit the man’s shoulder as he replaced his fingers with the tip of his pre-cum slickened cock, holding a tight fist over himself to keep Danse from taking him further. “It’s going to hurt….”

“Make it hurt.” He arched his back more. 

For every time he was in control on base or in the field, every reg he followed, this was Danse's reward. He could beg for pleasure. He could allow himself to be intoxicated by the chems his body made. As Gavin eased himself deeper, Danse felt hot. He shivered. Not until Gav was was fully seated, did he move, and then it was only to hang his head between his own forearms. 

An experimental shove of Gav's cock drew out a loud moan from the Paladin, then more animalistic sounds as he kept moving. It felt too good not to reach down and continue where the knight’s mouth had left off, his other hand gripping the wall like it was the Prydwen's outer hull. He ground his hips back against each thrust until his body began to shudder and any rhythm was lost, leaving behind desperate hip bucking and clenched teeth. Muscles straining, Danse let out a sudden, unintelligible curse as a quick hard release slammed into him. 

“Nn- Fuck,” he panted on the next breath. Gav bit down on his shoulder and rode it out even harder until there was no room for ego or thought or care. Gavin tensed just afterwards and spilled deep inside, moaning quietly against Danse’s shoulder as he slowed. 

An exhausted kiss found the back of Danse's neck as they leaned against each other. It was tempting to stay that way, with Gav's presence more comforting than a full suit of armor. But they had to part before long and inwardly, Danse cursed his own practicality. 

There was a smile from Gavin as the knight adjusted his pants, “How do you feel about rack ops now?”

Danse gave a quiet snort as he pulled his jumpsuit back up. “Even though there wasn't a rack involved?"

“But there will be. Doctor Kidd's patented sleep-aid.” He gave the paladin a quick kiss. “May be habit-forming…”

Danse had to smile as he brushed the grit off his hands before running them through his hair. It wasn't the easiest thing to compose himself and step away when Gavin was right there. “You need to rest, as well.”

“I’ll be along.” Gav motioned with a hand towards the elevator so it wouldn't look too incriminating going topside together with their faces still flushed.


End file.
